Federal Government Updates

Across American University, we are engaging on the many federal policy actions affecting higher education and our community. The ongoing federal policy developments prompt uncertainty, concerns, and conversations about what it means to be a university today and how to pursue our work in a changed and charged environment. Higher education is critical to our economic and social vitality, research and innovation, national security, and democracy. In our work to advocate for higher education and support our community, we are guided by AU’s mission that embraces freedom of thought and inquiry, and AU’s commitment to public service and the public good.

The university and our leadership are engaging with the policy developments and supporting the values and vital role of higher education. Our efforts include analyzing the actions and working directly with campus offices, departments, organizations, and individuals that may be materially affected. This site serves as a one-stop community hub for university updates and community resources. It helps guide community members to the information they need and the offices and resources that can address their questions and provide additional support. 

You will find on this page the latest news, community messages, and resources from across the university, as well as the opportunity to contact our team.

What's New

September 18 - Researchers Accuse NIH of Viewpoint Discrimination in New Class Action Lawsuit
September 18 - International student declines hit US college revenues, survey finds
September 17 - U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici will introduce a bill next week to regulate artificial intelligence in education
September 16 - DHS proposes end to 60-day H-1B grace period
September 15 - 4-year visa cap for international students halted by federal judge
September 14 - DOJ Sues States With In-State Tuition Policies for Undocumented Students
September 4 - Trump administration pushes to remove tax exemption for private colleges over diversity policies
August 27 - The Defense Department directed 30 major research universities to audit their foreign research partnerships and identify ties that could pose national security risks
August 26 - The number of new student visas issued by the U.S. fell 23 percent in 2025
August 25 - The Trump administration proposed a new $103,265 fee for certain H-1B visa petitions after a court struck down its previous $100,000 fee
August 20 - The Education Department formally released its proposed overhaul of federal accreditation regulations for public comment
August 17 - The NIH proposed replacing numerical peer-review scores for grant applications with broader categories indicating whether applications are competitive for funding
August 13 - A coalition of unions sued the Education Department over its new definition of “professional degree,” which allows students in designated professional programs to borrow up to $200,000 in federal loans while limiting other graduate students to $100,000
August 10 - The Trump administration is targeting the CareerOneStop website over its database of scholarships with eligibility criteria based on race, sex, and other demographic characteristics
August 4 - A bipartisan group of senators proposed delaying implementation of the Office of Management and Budget’s controversial federal grants rule until at least March 2027
August 3 - The Education Department urged colleges and universities to publicly commit to a set of administration priorities as part of a new letter from Secretary Linda McMahon
July 31 - A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to ban legacy admissions at colleges that receive federal student aid
July 30 - The Senate HELP Committee approved a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the Education Department from transferring its postsecondary office to other federal agencies
July 30 - The Trump administration is considering a $100,000 fee for international students seeking to work in the United States after graduation
July 28 - Federal Student Aid staff are now slated to relocate to Treasury Department offices
July 25 - A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot revoke previously awarded grants solely because recipients no longer align with the administration’s policy priorities
July 23 - The Education Department eliminated an analytical tool used to identify racial disparities in schools
July 16 - The Trump administration proposed a new political review process for certain federal grants, giving presidential appointees greater oversight of funding decisions across agencies
July 14 - The Trump administration plans to cap the length of a student visa at the number of years its holder is enrolled in a particular program, with a maximum of four years

July 6 - The number of students admitted to Ph.D. programs this fall dropped 15 percent from the previous year
June 30 - The Supreme Court upheld bans on transgender women in female athletics
June 30 - Two federal courts struck down a Trump administration rule that would have allowed the Education Department to disqualify employers from participating in a student loan forgiveness program for public servants
June 30 - The Education Department released a list of fields that will temporarily count as professional under a recent court order, changing which fields of study are eligible for higher loan limits
June 18 - The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and has been sent to the full Senate for consideration
June 16 - The Trump administration announced it will transfer its civil rights and special education programs to the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services
June 16 - A federal court blocked a Trump administration policy that paused the processing of nonimmigrant benefits for individuals from 40 countries and territories
June 9 – A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee
June 9 - House Appropriations Committee advanced a spending bill that would cut $8 billion from the Education Department's budget for fiscal 2027
May 28– The Trump administration unveiled a proposed rule to prevent federal funds from being spent on initiatives it considers to be part of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
May 27 – Senator Warren requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate whether layoffs at the Education Department have impaired the agency’s ability to oversee colleges and protect students
May 22 – The Trump administration’s proposed overhaul of the college accreditation system advanced after a negotiated rulemaking committee reached consensus

May 21 - The Department of Education's accreditation rulemaking committee reached consensus on a proposed framework to overhaul how accreditors evaluate institutions
May 20 - A coalition of 25 state attorneys general filed suit against the Department of Education challenging its new rule narrowing the definition of "professional degree" for federal student loan purposes
May 19 - The Department of Education published a final rule implementing the Workforce Pell Grant program, allowing students to use Pell aid for short-term job training
May 15 - The Class of 2026 set a record FAFSA completion rate, with 54.7 percent of graduating seniors having completed the form as of May 1
May 13 - The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is the latest congressional panel to probe the recent breaches against education tech provider Instructure and its learning management platform Canvas
May 12 - The FAFSA Simplification Act, passed by Congress in 2020, has met its goals, with more students eligible for the Pell Grant than ever before and a larger proportion of those students receiving the maximum award
May 11 - The number of new foreign undergraduate students at US colleges dropped by an average of 20% this spring from a year earlier
May 7 - A group of lawmakers introduced a resolution to rescind the Department of Education’s final rule governing student loan provisions enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
May 5 - The federal government is expected to phase out the last of its Special Student Relief designations, which provide flexibility to international students from countries in crisis
May 4 - The Education and Treasury departments are moving employees across the two agencies as part of the Trump administration's effort to transfer the student loan portfolio to the fiscal agency
April 27 – The White House removed all members of the National Science Board
April 27 – The Department of Education launched new FAFSA fraud prevention measures to address rising concerns about fraudulent applications
April 24 - The Justice Department delayed enforcement of a deadline requiring public colleges to meet new federal accessibility standards under the Americans With Disabilities Act
April 21 – The Education Department reversed course on a proposal to include graduate student loans in lifetime borrowing limits
April 17 - The Department of Education issued a proposed rule to hold colleges accountable for low-earning outcomes, which would cut off federal student aid to programs whose graduates do not earn enough to demonstrate sufficient economic value
April 16 - The Trump administration plans to ramp up student loan collections this summer, targeting about 500,000 defaulted borrowers with measures like wage garnishment
April 14 - Democrats in Congress are seeking to overturn a Trump administration rule changing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that allows the Education Secretary to exclude certain employers
April 9 - The Trump administration abandoned its effort to cap federal research overhead costs at 15 percent after declining to appeal a court ruling blocking the policy, effectively ending a legal fight that universities warned would have cost them billions
April 7 - The Trump administration unveiled sweeping proposed changes to college accreditation rules that would require accreditors to set minimum student outcome standards and expand federal priorities in how institutions are evaluated
April 6 - House Republicans introduced legislation to overhaul the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, including shifting some adult education programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor
March 27 - The Department of Education removed a member of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity after a dissenting vote and simultaneously appointed a new member
March 26 - The Department of Education will vacate its headquarters and transfer the building to the Energy Department
March 23 - The Education Department will make FAFSA improvements to better serve parents without Social Security Numbers and families completing the form for multiple children
March 13 - A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from demanding detailed student admissions data from colleges
March 13 - The Trump administration is considering breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, potentially transferring its programs to universities, private contractors, or federal agencies like NASA or NOAA
March 12 - A federal court ruling has ended the Biden administration’s SAVE student loan repayment plan
March 11 - Several states filed a lawsuit challenging Trump administration policies affecting college admissions, arguing the rules undermine diversity and states’ authority over higher education
March 9 - The Department of Education said it will grant some colleges a conditional extension on the deadline for the new Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) survey, but only for institutions that face extraordinary circumstances
March 6 - The Department of Education released a proposed rule outlining how the new Workforce Pell Grant program will allow students to use federal Pell aid for short-term job training programs
March 3 - The National Student Clearinghouse ended its partnership with researchers studying student voting behavior, raising concerns among scholars about access to data used to analyze civic engagement among college students
March 2 - University research offices asked federal officials for more time to complete a new survey on graduate admissions practices, saying institutions need additional time to gather the requested data
February 28 - The Pentagon is reassessing and canceling funding for university-affiliated think tanks and research centers as part of a broader review of defense spending tied to academic institutions
February 27 - The Trump administration is accelerating the process for recognizing new college accrediting agencies as part of its broader effort to reshape higher education oversight and increase competition among accreditors
February 27 - A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to get rid of the SAVE student loan repayment plan
February 24 - A federal judge has denied an Education Department request for more time to decide whether to approve applications for students asking for their loans to be forgiven because of fraud
February 24 - The Department of Education warns colleges and universities that high student loan nonpayment rates may signal future default risks and could affect federal aid eligibility if repayment issues persist
February 23 - The Trump administration is expanding its efforts to dismantle the Education Department by moving its oversight of school safety grants and foreign funding for universities to other agencies
February 23 - Senate Democrats urge the Government Accountability Office to investigate agreements transferring Education Department programs to other agencies amid concerns the department is being dismantled
February 23 - The Department of Education and the Department of State announced a partnership to enhance transparency and compliance in reporting foreign gifts and contracts to U.S. higher-education institutions
February 23 - The Department of Education announced two new interagency partnerships with the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to shift certain program responsibilities to those agencies

February 20 - The Education Department warned a student voting survey may violate FERPA, raising concerns that federal privacy enforcement could limit campus civic engagement efforts
February 19 - The Education Department plans to eliminate race-based eligibility criteria from the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, shifting the grant program to race-neutral rules while maintaining its focus on low-income and first-generation students
February 18 - The Labor Department awarded $65 million to community colleges to expand short-term workforce training programs intended to align with forthcoming Workforce Pell eligibility
February 13 – The Congressional Budget Office warns the Pell Grant program faces an $11.5 billion shortfall by fiscal year 2027
February 10 – The Labor Department is set to boost the rollout of workforce-aligned Pell Grant programs with about $65 million in grants
February 10 – House Democrats called on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to explain a growing backlog of civil rights complaints
February 5 - The Department of Education has launched a federal investigation into claims that some universities' improperly shared student voting data
February 3 - President Trump signed a spending package into law, ending the partial government shutdown after just three days but creating another funding cliff for the Department of Homeland Security

February 2 - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week estimating the Education Department spent at least $28 million on an attempted reduction in force (RIF) at its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) last year

Archived Federal Government Updates

January 29 - The Education Department released a draft proposed rule on how the department would define professional and graduate programs, set loan caps for these programs and implement two new repayment plans
January 29 - Senate Democrats struck a deal with Republicans and the White House to pass five spending bills to fund a large portion of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as a stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
January 27 - Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said Tuesday the organizations tasked with oversight of higher education are no longer a “reliable” indicator of institutional quality
January 26 - Senator Bill Cassidy has launched an investigation into what he says is a decline in how prepared freshmen accepted into selective institutions are for math courses there
January 16 - In a reversal of recently announced policy, the Department of Education said it was postponing the pursuit of garnishing wages from federal student loan borrowers in default
January 16 - The Department of Education is opening fewer sexual violence investigations as the department is being dismantled
January 15 - The Department of Education announced it will be moving some employees to the Department of Labor
January 15 - The Department of Education announced it is investigating one university and two state education departments over their transgender athlete policies
January 9 - The Education Department reached an agreement Friday on how to implement new accountability measures that aim to keep students away from expensive programs that lead to low paying jobs
January 8 - The Education Department has formally reinstated civil rights workers tasked with investigating discrimination complaints in schools who the agency tried to dismiss during sweeping layoffs last year
January 7 - Secretary of Education announced that Iowa has become the first state approved for a waiver that will give officials more flexibility in how federal dollars on spent on their education system
January 6 - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) officially dissolved after the body’s board voted to close the organization
January 5 - The Department of Education announced $169 million in postsecondary education grant awards
January 5 - Negotiated rulemaking on higher education accountability measures approved in the One Big Beautiful Bill is schedule for January 5-9 at the Department of Education
January 20 - The House Appropriations Committee rolled out its last four remaining appropriations bills to fund the Department of Education and other agencies this fiscal year
December 30 - The Justice Department filed suit against Virginia for providing in-state financial aid at public colleges and university to undocumented immigrants
December 23 - The Department of Education confirmed it will resume wage garnishment for student loan borrowers in default who are more than 270 days delinquent on payments

December 4 - The U.S. Court of Appeals said National Guard troops can remain in D.C. as they weigh the legality of an order requiring President Donald Trump to end the troops’ deployment
December 4 - Members of the House of Representatives held a hearing to discuss allegations of a left-wing bias in the Truman Scholarship program
December 3 - Senate Democrats sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon that called the Education Department’s breakup of some of its programs for students and their families “illegal"
December 3 - The House of Representatives delayed a planned floor vote on the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act. It is unclear when, or even if, the vote will be rescheduled
December 3 - Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion is up this year, with 26 percent of high school seniors having filled out the FAFSA by November 21
December 2 - A federal judge restricted the Trump administration’s ability to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants in Washington without a warrant

December 1 - The House Rules Committee advanced a measure to move the SCORE Act forward for a vote. The bill would override state NIL laws, prevent college athletes from being treated as employees, and give college-sports officials antitrust protection.
November 26 - The Department of Education is asking a federal judge for an 18-month extension to decide borrower defense claims from students who were promised decisions by January.
November 25 - The House Education and Workforce Committee is investigating alleged antisemitism at Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest district in Virginia, and two other school systems.
November 25 - EEOC has asked a federal court to compel UPenn to turn over information as part of its ongoing antisemitism investigation, arguing UPenn declined to produce full records despite a formal subpoena.
November 24 - Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Education Department Inspector General to investigate the recent agreements that outsource several grant programs to other federal agencies.

November 21 - A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to halt its National Guard deployment to Washington while a lawsuit over the matter plays out in court
November 20 - The Justice Department sued California in federal court, claiming that providing in-state college tuition to unauthorized students is illegal and discriminates against Americans from out of state who pay higher rates
November 19 - The House of Representatives passed two bills impacting DC. These bills amend the DC criminal code to require the posting of cash bail and repeals the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022
November 19 - U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon led a roundtable on reforming higher education at the White House focused on the president’s compact

November 18 – The U.S. Department of Education announced plans to transfer programs and activities to other federal agencies, in line with the executive order calling for the closure of the department
November 17 - The number of international college students enrolling in American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent
November 13 - The Education Department will only have four-year colleges report expanded six-year admissions and outcomes data, while exempting two-year and open-admission schools
November 11 - The Education Department opened applications for its Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), prioritizing grant funding for artificial intelligence in teaching, civil discourse, accreditation reform, and short-term Workforce Pell–eligible programs
November 11 - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced it won’t sign the federal “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”
November 10 - President Donald Trump defended allowing foreign students to study in the US as a “good” practice and pushed back on a call to reduce their numbers

November 7 – Cornell became the fifth university to reach an agreement with the Trump Administration to restore federal research funding
November 7 — A federal district judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Education infringed on employees' rights by appending partisan shutdown messages to their emails
November 6 — A federal negotiated rule making process to interpret last summer’s budget reconciliation bill has reached consensus on changes to graduate borrowing limits
November 3 — Two lawsuits were filed challenging the Trump Administration’s new Student Loan Forgiveness rule for public servants

November 3 – Cities and unions are suing the Trump administration to block changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for workers employed by organizations that engage in “unlawful activities”
October 31 - Attorneys general from 21 states and Washington, D.C., filed briefs asking a court to reverse the Trump administration’s rejection of grants supporting TRIO programs
October 29 - A federal judge extended her order barring the White House from firing federal workers during the government shutdown
October 29 - American University signed onto AAC&U's statement on the Trump Administration's higher education compact
October 28 – Valley Forge Military College and the New College of Florida signed on to the Trump Administration’s higher education compact
October 23 – Syracuse University, Emory University, and Washington University in St. Louis announced that they did not plan to sign the Trump Administration’s higher education compact
October 22 - The Justice Department announced that it reached an agreement with the University of Virginia to pause several investigations into the school
October 22 - The National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., could be extended into the summer of 2026, according to a new court filing
October 20 – Vanderbilt University provided the Trump Administration with feedback regarding its higher education compact rather than accepting or rejecting the offer
October 20 – All but two of the nine universities invited to sign onto the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” have declined the proposed agreement
October 17 - The Trump administration is appealing an August court ruling that restricted some of the president’s efforts to cut off billions of dollars in funding from schools and colleges with diversity and equity programs
October 17 - The Department of Education announced it is resuming student loan forgiveness under all current income-driven repayment plans and will ensure that borrowers who reached the qualifications for loan discharge in 2025 will not pay taxes on it
October 15 - Harvard University recouped most of the federal research funding it lost when the Trump administration froze its access to grants earlier this year
October 10 - The White House budget office began firing federal workers during the government shutdown and stated in a court filing that they plan to fire more than 4,000 employees
October 10 – American University offered a program, Classes Without Quizzes, which provided free learning opportunities to furloughed and former federal employees
October 9 - The Senate confirmed Kimberly Richey as the next assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education in a 51-47 vote
October 8 - The NCAA announced that the Division I administrative committee voted to approve a proposal that would allow college athletes to place bets on professional sports
October 6 - Several organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, alleging the policy could cause “catastrophic setbacks” to research in the U.S.
October 4 - The U.S. Department of Education informed borrowers who have spent 25 years repaying their loans that they are now eligible to have their remaining balances cleared if they are enrolled in the Income-Based Repayment plan
October 2 - U.S. Department of Education employees furloughed during the government shutdown discovered their email accounts had been manipulated while they were out of office to include partisan talking points
October 1 - The Trump administration invited nine universities (AU not among them) to join the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The compact requires the institutions to ban the use of race or sex in admissions, freeze tuition, and cap international enrollment in exchange for multiple benefits
October 1 – Congress did not pass a bill to keep the federal government funded, so the U.S. government is now closed for non-essential operations

Community Updates and Messages

In the inaugural Eagle Insights, AU President Jon Alger answered three questions about how the university is navigating the complex and rapidly changing federal policy environment, Nov 5, 2025
Advancing Our Values in Today’s Policy Environment, Apr 22, 2025
Spring 2025 Federal Policy Update, Apr 22, 2025
AU Inclusive Excellence Strategy Forward: A Guiding Framework, Apr 10, 2025
Our Community-Focused Actions Amid Ongoing Federal Policy Changes, Mar 26, 2025
Continuing Our Work on Federal Policy Issues, Feb 27, 2025
Addressing Federal Executive Orders and Policy Actions, Feb 6, 2025

AU Community Resources

The links in this section will take you to the relevant section of our AU Community Resources page.

AU Resources

External Resources

Working Groups

To better address the wide range of federal policy issues, multiple working groups of faculty and staff are collaborating to provide counsel, surface questions and issues, share information with the community, and produce resources and deliverables to support community needs.

Federal Policy Operational Working Group

This cross-functional group (modeled on the successful COVID working group) brings together key faculty and staff subject matter and operational leaders to advance and support our day-to-day engagement on federal policy issues. This is a tactical group that facilitates regular discussions and produces deliverables that support core university operations that are (or could be) affected by the ongoing federal policy changes. Focused sub-teams are also working on specific issues and bringing that work back to the larger group and university leaders. The group includes representatives from university areas including but not limited to: academic affairs/schools and colleges, human resources, inclusive excellence, university communications and marketing, university library, risk management and public safety, student affairs, athletics, general counsel, enrollment, and more. Additional representatives and expertise as included as issues develop.

Faculty Strategy Advisory Group

This group (currently forming April 2025) will look at high-level questions and strategic considerations on cross-cutting issues at play in the federal policy landscape. Topics include, but are not limited to, the future of academic freedom and how we support it and planning for a world where federal research funding is dramatically reduced. This group will help organize scenario planning around potential policy outcomes and their impacts on AU and higher education and contemplate what additional policy changes or challenges may be on the horizon based on our understanding of the current issues. The group helps inform work across the university, engages with the Federal Policy Operational Working Group, and contributes input for university decision-making.